Scales
Has digits forward / digits backward been shown to actually assess working / auditory memory?
It is generally accepted that digits backward provides a good measure of auditory working memory, at least in children. See, for example, Sue Gathercole’s Presidential Address in the May 2008 edition of The Psychologist, where she said:
‘Many standardised ability test batteries include two measures of working memory: forward and backward digit span. Of the two, backward digit span provides the more sensitive assessment of general working memory capacity. This is due to its requirement not only to store the digits but also to mentally reverse their sequence, which imposes substantial burden on the attentional component of working memory.’
We would welcome any individual research to assess this matter further.
Which scales will make up the SNV composite?
The SNV composite in BAS3 is made up of the GCA minus the two verbal scales. Dependent on the age of the child, these verbal scales are Naming Vocabulary & Verbal Comprehension for the Early Years; and Word Definitions & Verbal Similarities for School Age.
‘Number Skills’ appear to be maths reasoning rather than number skills (3 + 2 = 5). Does the final version include more numbers skills items?
The Number Skills scale was revised to make it more relevant to the type of maths that children currently now encounter. Illustrations were also added to provide context. The scale is now a mixture of maths reasoning and number skills. The earlier items contain context for the youngest children, while the later items contain more abstract number skills for older children.
Please can you provide us with more information about changes to Word Definitions and Verbal Similarities, for instance, ‘error’.
In BAS3, no changes have been made to the items within Word Definitions but the scale has been restandardised and certain scoring criteria (i.e. the acceptable responses) has been amended to reflect more current usage of words.
In Verbal Similarities, the ‘Draughts / Hopscotch / Football’ item has been updated to ‘Draughts / Football / Table Tennis’. Concerns from users regarding the sequencing of middle items have also been addressed and certain scoring criteria (i.e. acceptable responses) amended.
‘Number Skills’ appear to be maths reasoning rather than number skills (3 + 2 = 5). Does the final version include more numbers skills items?
The Number Skills scale was revised to make it more relevant to the type of maths that children currently now encounter. Illustrations were also added to provide context. The scale is now a mixture of maths reasoning and number skills. The earlier items contain context for the youngest children, while the later items contain more abstract number skills for older children.
Please can you provide more details on the language changes, rationale / evidence base and standardised populations?
A PDF download containing this information is available here: The BAS3 standardisation project.